


Innocent

by Blue_Sparkle



Series: The Daily Lives of Mahal's Children [2]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Dwalin being intimidating, Dwarves, Jail, M/M, Men being jerks, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-16
Updated: 2016-02-16
Packaged: 2018-05-21 03:56:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6037090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blue_Sparkle/pseuds/Blue_Sparkle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No Dwarf should be stuck in a jail of Men for things that aren't even a crime. Though Nori is amused when he's assumed innocent in <i>all</i> aspects just because he was innocent <i>once</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Innocent

The cold dampness of the wall had soaked part of Nori’s sleeve already, and somehow he kept feeling as if the water would crawl its way through his more waterproof clothes soon enough as well. There was no noise coming from the cell they’d thrown him in, safe for the occasional drop when enough of the damp had gathered to fall on the ground. Nothing he himself was responsible for.

He was largely ignored by everyone now, much to Nori’s convenience. It was hard to be ignored by guards of Men when you were the only Dwarf in their custody at the moment. Far too often the Men would try to tease and rile any of them up, look for excuses to insult and be much more rough than necessary. They had some rules in the jails of Men, but it was also easy to claim that a Dwarf was made of stone and could handle so much more. Not that anyone cared for a criminal Dwarf anyway.

Nori had barely said a word while they’d dragged him in and locked him up, so by now the guards had lost all interest in him. He could see them through the bars, sitting around a table and drinking something that steamed hot in their faces. Whatever it was, it probably wouldn’t be to Nori’s tastes at all, from what he knew of the local taverns and what Men liked to drink, but in the bitter cold of the cell he did yearn for even the most foul thing if it just warmed him up alright. He wasn’t foolish enough to open his mouth about it though, wouldn’t give the Men any reason to try and torment him. They already sneered and scoffed at the few imprisoned Men who’d asked for a cup, they would be more rude to a Dwarf. Time would pass quicker if Nori just stayed put anyway.

Despite the cold making him want to curl up as tight as possible and sleep, Nori didn’t give in to that temptation. He forced himself to stretch every so often, move as much as he could without making a ruckus. It was not as cold as it could have been after all. Outside, the snow was piling up high, and the clouds had promised more to come a few hours ago when Nori had seen them. Inside it was warm enough that the guards weren’t clinging to their coats as if they were freezing, and the water on the cell’s stone walls also hadn’t turned to ice yet.

It would be quite a little bit warmer if he sat by the cell’s bars, but that would put him in reach of the Men outside. Not to mention that he could carefully lean his bruised and throbbing cheek against the wall and dull the pain a little bit when it became a bit too much.

‘Damn Men,’ he thought bitterly, thinking of the snow that had caused him to get caught in the first place.

They’d caught up too easily once they’d spotted him, and of course they’d still made a point of running him over and throwing him into the ground hard. It didn’t hurt too much, not even as bad as some injuries and bruises Nori had gotten on accident while roughhousing with friends or with Dori, when he was in the mood. It was more the knowledge that he’d been caught that stung.

He’d have to figure out how to get away through snow easier, or at least hide so that Men would either not be able to track him down, or be unable to follow where he was.

“Rotten little Dwarf,” somebody hissed from a different direction than the Men sat.

Nori looked over, deliberately casual, to see one of the other inmates across from him, leaning against the bars of his own cell. He could barely peek inside of Nori’s at the angle he was in, and couldn’t possibly make him out where Nori was sitting either.

“You’re that little thief. You warg dropping stole my gold and cheated me out of my fair pay!”

It took Nori a few moments to recognize who that Man was, with no braids or beads to show anything about his identity. Then it occurred to him that he’d heard that sneering voice more than once, in his own little home when more Dwarves had still lived at the walls of this town, before there was enough habitable space in a mountain settlement of their own. The bastard and his usurer friends had loaned Nori’s mother a little bit of gold for the supplies she needed to follow her weaver craft and earn money for her children – only to raise their interests too high to possibly pay them back on the dates they demanded.

What did it matter if Nori had remembered any who dared cause his mother grief to get back what they’d taken in the first place?

A lot it seemed, as the trouble wouldn’t end.

“That bloody thief over there stole from me! Why isn’t he in chains!” the Man went on, hissing at the guards now.

Nori gritted his teeth as he remained perfectly still. His plan had been to just stay put and wait for Dori to find out where he was, or wait for the guards to grow tired of him being there before letting him go. They couldn’t waste time and effort on a petty crime for too long after all, and eventually the cell might be needed if there was some drunken brawl in town, or if the guards simply didn’t feel like watching over him for nothing anymore. Not something they’d be willing to do as easily if they decided he’d committed worse crimes after all.

“Just you wait till I get my hands on you, you dirty little-“ the other prisoner was now threatening, and finally one of the guards got up.

To Nori’s relief, he growled at the prisoner instead of coming to Nori’s cell, telling him to shut up and sit back down if he didn’t want a beating for the noise. Apparently it didn’t matter to them if a thief stole of another criminal, even if it was a Dwarf harming a Man. Maybe they just didn’t feel like dealing with it.

The guard did throw Nori a strange look, but the hot drink he’d left behind was more important.

After that, everyone was silent again.

Nori shifted a little on the cot that was too high off the ground, and a few times he felt an icy cold drop fall on his neck and crawl its way under his shirt. Not pleasant to say the least.

The next time there was some disturbance Nori expected it to be the brawl or crime that would make the guards need more cells. He heard the shuffle of the guards, the way they stood at attention and the clang of iron and armour. Something important it seemed, given the voices Nori couldn’t quite make out, but recognized the arguing tone of. He tried not to look too hopeful or interested, lest that would earn him some unwanted attention.

“-you can’t just barge in, I refuse!” the captain of the guard said, sounding indignant in the way one got if there really was little one could do.

“You know of the agreement. Our King has more say than you, even in this matter.”

Now Nori did look up. That deep growl of a voice must belong to a Dwarf, surely. He’d spoken of a King as well, which certainly couldn’t be anyone else than Thorin Oakenshield, as there really wasn’t any King the Men of this part of the world paid much attention to.

Cautiously Nori sat up straighter and let his feet hang off the edge of his cot, peeking out.

And truly, there were guards there, from Ered Luin, all much shorter and stouter than the Men, dressed in the armour of the mountain guards, much more imposing than the Men. Their leader was nearly as tall as the shorter Men, a giant of a Dwarf, his tall crest of hair making him look even more so. Nori had seen him before, from afar, and of course he knew that this was Dwalin, a noble, a distant cousin of the King himself. What was _he_ doing there?

“See, this is a crime, and it is my duty to take care of this. Surely you understand this?”

Dwalin glared up, somehow looking as if he was towering over the captain of the guard.

“Whatever crime a Dwarf has committed, _we_ take care of this. You, open the cell immediately!”

He gestured at the youngest of the guards, who quickly fetched a key to let Nori out of his cell. He stepped outside cautiously, leaning against the door and looking around with suspicion. Was that it? Or would they just shove him in another cell, one that was more disgraceful to his family’s reputation if they heard at that.

Dwalin gave him a look over with an expression Nori couldn’t read, so he did seem displeased by something.

“What did he do?” Dwalin asked, as the captain of the guard glared at Nori as well.

“He stole rabbits in the forest-“

“You mean he hunted in no-man’s land?”

“He was poaching in the areas fairly close to the town walls so-“ the Man started indignantly, but Dwalin interrupted him with a harsh voice.

“Which is not a crime last I heard. Do you think you can continue abusing us the way you did when we were starving and had barely any means to get through the winter? Much less have guards of our own?”  
The Men were visibly getting uncomfortable, for which Nori couldn’t fault them, given how each of Dwalin’s Dwarves was glaring now, hands close to the weapons on their belts.

Seeing how this was truly a chance to get out, Nori carefully took a few steps towards Dwalin and the others, limping a little as he exaggerated the pain his bruises caused him. Truth be told, he’d be able to run and get to safety while ignoring much worse conditions, but nobody needed to know.

Of course he’d heard that the Ered Luin guard was now trying to protect Dwarves from the law enforcements of Men, but he’d never seen it happen, nor had he expected a petty unimportant thief like himself to warrant such attention.

“Has he been given food? Water? Those bruises are fresh, as if you were the ones to cause it. And yet I see nobody tried to tend to that either?”

Dwalin’s voice was rising, getting more heated. He stepped towards Nori to gently touch his shoulder and subtly nudge him behind him, towards the other Dwarves, away from the Men and those who’d imprison him.

Nori leaned behind Dwalin, grateful to have somebody else take care of the matter, and have somebody get mad on his behalf. It was very rare that Dori did so for him, but to have such an important stranger do it was positively delightful.

“As I see it you have committed a crime here. If any of our guards had abused a young poor lad of your town that would have some serious repercussions.”

Nori wasn’t really _that_ young anymore, though the Men wouldn’t be able to tell correctly either way with how quick he’d gotten a nice beard, but he played up his exhaustion and the near frightened look on his face when Dwalin looked his way again. The Men had grown visibly pale, and the captain just shook his head.

“We’d have let him go soon enough anyway! Just take him away and all is settled.”

Dwalin gave him a glare.

“We’ll see,” he said, but having achieved his goal he turned around and motioned his Dwarves to follow.

Nori was prepared to stagger along, but as soon as they were out of the jail Dwalin visibly grew more relaxed, gentler even. He motioned for someone to hand him a coat, which he let Nori wrap around his shoulders.

“Can you walk?” he asked, his voice much more quieter now that he wasn’t trying to intimidate anyone. “Forgive me, we didn’t hear of a Dwarf being captured till a little while ago.”

“They roughed me up a wee bit when they caught me,” Nori shrugged. “But I won’t hold you up.”

There were some angry whispers about the way the Men had acted behind Nori’s back, but Dwalin just wrapped an arm around Nori’s shoulders to support him as one would help a wounded shield-mate.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “What’s your name then?”

“Nori,” Nori just said, not expanding on family relations or his line. Whatever he had to say, it would blanch before Dwalin’s family credentials, and many Dwarves of Ered Luin didn’t pay attention to lost lines anymore.

“Those rabbits…”

“They took them away or dropped them, who knows. I just wanted to help my brother with the stew for the next few days? ‘S not a crime?”

Dwalin growled again, but he didn’t look angry at Nori.

“’s not! They shouldn’t be hunting honest Dwarves trying to make a living.”

They trotted through the snow towards the entrance to the mountain, leaving the town of Men behind. Nori smiled softly at being called ‘honest’ and leaned hard against Dwalin, shivering despite the coat. It only caused Dwalin to hold him closer and try to chose their path more carefully as well. It started to snow after all, the sky already turning darker and the Dwarves around them keeping their weapons in reach.

Nori wrapped his own arm around Dwalin’s back, not even able to touch his side with his fingertips, as the armour made the already tall and broad Dwarf way broader on top.

Finally safe in the mountain it was already late enough for most sensible Dwarves to be back at home, huddled around a nice supper with their families and nowhere near the winter cold that spread everywhere. Dwalin let go of Nori there, finally safe. He refused when Nori tried to return the coat, and insisted that Nori return to his family quickly.

“I am glad I could get you out of there,” he told Nori, bowing respectfully, along with his Dwarves.

Nori returned the bow with a flourish, smiling.

“I’m in your debt.”

“You really are not. The King wishes for the Men to stop preying after honest Dwarves for imagined crimes, and I merely did my duty.”

Nori bowed his head again.

“Thank you,” he said watching as the warriors by Dwalin’s side saluted him in a farewell. Then their ways parted and Nori turned to walk the quiet streets back to his home.

He’d walked a few blocks before he opened his hand, to look at the tiny bead in his palm. It was nice silver, with a few engravings. Not particularly precious or elaborate, but suitable for a noble to wear while being small enough to snatch it easily without anyone noticing.

Nori grinned at the tiny thing before he hid it in his pocket. Would Dwalin notice that it was gone and would he just assume he’d lost it? He certainly wouldn’t blame the innocent Dwarf he’d freed earlier.

The thought of what Dwalin’s face might look like if he knew Nori was a thief with no plans to repent was nearly tempting enough for Nori to consider causing some trouble closer to home. Nearly. It would be such a joy to see Dwalin again, get his attention and see how long it’d take him to realize how Nori was like, as Nori couldn’t keep fully out of trouble for long. But first he would return home to enjoy Dori’s cooking and some scolding as well, he was sure.

With a whistle Nori sauntered along, quietly plotting what to do in the following weeks.


End file.
